Always Look Before You Step
by Muddi the Mudkip
Summary: She sighs and looks down at her untouched pizza slice, which is turning colder by the second. The first time she came here, it actually meant something. Now it was just a sad reminder. Channy one-shot


Another dreary day went by in Pablo's Pizza Parlor. She can't help but notice how lonely the place feels, even when the restaurant is packed. The speakers are cranked up as loud as they can go, and the people don't help the noise problem.

Yet Sonny notices how she can still hear her own thoughts. She stares though the window, trying to see the splatters of cold rain drops on the empty streets, but only able to see her own sad reflection. She sighs and looks down at her untouched pizza slice, which is turning colder by the second. The first time she came here, it actually meant something. Now it was just a sad reminder.

She remembers the first time the place opened. He took her there because he knew she'd like it. She remembers the confident look on Chad's face when he strutted up to the counter and ordered her favorite pizza toppings. Pineapple with bacon and jalapeños. She can't count how many times her mom would get that wrong when ordering dinner, or all of her friends talking her out of her favorite for a normal slice of cheese.

But she remembers when Chad sat across from her in the table she's sitting at right now. He picked up a slice of the pineapple, bacon, and jalapeño pizza and shoved the thing in his mouth. And she remembers how she smiled at him, before reaching over with napkin in hand to brush off a stray piece of bacon. They accidentally looked into each others eyes, and soon brown eyes gave way into blue. A tender moment passed when he gently touched her hands. Breaths were taken away when they felt themselves leaning in, closer and closer, near enough to smell the sting of an eaten jalapeño.

That's when Pablo came by. The two averted their eyes away and thanked Pablo for the wonderful meal. They left the table and, being the gentleman that he was, Chad left a hearty tip. The duo left the parlor, feeling fuller (and not just in the food way) than before.

The street that connected the pizza parlor and the shops across from it was never a busy street. So she felt like they had nothing to worry about when Chad asked her if he would go with him to a certain place he had in mind. His usual smirk was replaced by something more joyful when she said yes. So when they crossed the street, with her in the lead, they didn't feel it necessary to look both ways. Of course, when you make one mistake, as she found out, you know that something bad is going to happen.

It came around the corner with such speed that you would have thought that it was on fire. That car was driving at least forty miles above the speed limit, and was obviously not looking where it was going. She knew the driver must have had some story. Perhaps he was drunk, or heard some surprising news over the phone, or maybe he was a thief on the run from a recent jewel heist.

But she'll never know. Because that driver didn't live to see the next day, and neither did the gallant man who pushed Sonny out of the way while she was screaming her lungs out. The same guy who she had hated with all her guts, but deep down knew she loved. The same guy who sheepishly asked her to the pizza parlor because none of the Mackenzie Falls cast would go with him to such a place and she was the only Random he could stand. The same guy who shared a pineapple, bacon, and jalapeño pizza with her.

And now she knows that she'll never get that kiss that she wanted, or that dream day honeymoon, or that happily ever after. Because Chad is gone from this world, on a different journey, and she isn't invited on it. And she knows it's all her fault. She wishes that she could go back in time and not make a stupid mistake. She wishes that she could've looked both ways.

And so she sits there, in the crowded restaurant of Pablo's Pizza Parlor, alone at the table by the window with the slice of pineapple, bacon, and jalapeño pizza untouched and cold. And as she taps her left hand on the side of the table, she can't help but notice the bracelet around her wrist. Once upon a time, it held her previous motto. It had the words "Always Be Positive" strung delicately on a string of thread, using letter beads to spell out the phrase. But she found it hard to be positive nowadays. And so she decided to make a new bracelet.

She spent that night making a meticulous new bracelet. She knew exactly what words she was going to use. So she tested her patience while picking out the right letters and yelled out in frustration when the thread frayed. When it finished, she felt more grief than when she started. She broke off the old bracelet and put on the new one, anyway.

But this new bracelet stands out like an ugly patch of gray within a cornucopia of colors. It's there to remind her of that one day when her life broke into pieces. Her new motto will never let her forget, because she knows that the words will haunt her forever.

"Always look before you step."

* * *

I wasn't planning on Chad dying. I actually wasn't planning on anything. I just ate some pizza, so I'm like, "What the heck! Why not write a story about pizza?" And then this happened. Anyway, please review!


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